Immune Infiltration Analysis with the CIBERSORT Method in Lung Cancer

Immune infiltration of lung cancer (LC) is tightly related to clinical results. Nevertheless, past researches have not elucidated the diversities of functionally different cellular types making up the immunoresponse.

In the present research, on the foundation of a deconvolution algorithm (CIBERSORT) and clinically annotated expression profiles, our team studied the tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) presenting in 502 LC samples and 49 normal samples in a comprehensive way. The fraction of 22 immunocyte subgroups was assessed to identify the relationship among every cellular type and survival and reaction to chemical therapies.

Consequently, profiles of immunity infiltration change remarkably between paired tumor and precancerous tissues, and the change can describe the diversity of individuals. Of the cellular subgroups studied, cancers without dendritic resting cells or with a decreased quantity of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells were related to the poor prognosis. Correlation analysis between different stages of LC and 22 immune cell subpopulations revealed that the amount of 14 immune cells in LC was remarkably related to tumor stage. The high expression of resting dendritic cells and follicular helper T cells predicted better prognostic value, and univariate analyses proved that two TIICs were significantly associated with patients' prognosis.

To sum up, the data herein reveal that there may be subtle differences in the cell constituents of the immune infiltrate in LC, and those diversities may be vital determinating factors of prognostic results and reactions to therapies.